When Lu Fei received Henry Paulson's invitation, it was already March 1, and he flew to Washington the next day.
The Secretary of the Treasury stood at the door to greet the Treasury Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, saying with a formal smile:
"Tony Lu, Henry is in a meeting with other senior executives and it will end soon. He asked you to wait for a while."
"no problem."
When Lu Fei entered the Finance Minister's office, he saw Buffett coming first, with his legs on the table, drinking Coke, eating nuts, and reading "The Big Short" in his hands.
"Warren!"
"land!"
The two exchanged a warm hug.
"I didn't expect you to come so early."
Lu Fei asked for a can of Coke.
Buffett spread his hands and said, "I'm just here to take some time off. At home, I have to send a bunch of Wall Street companies asking for help every day. There are so many phone calls that I almost get nervous."
"Me too, hahaha~"
Lu Fei took a sip of Coke.
Buffett shook "The Big Short" and said, "Lu, this book is wonderfully written. You are simply the chief director of the entire crisis. The subprime mortgage situation is almost developing according to this script."
"Then as an investor in this movie, you are absolutely indispensable for your box office dividends. Bear Stearns's CDS and securities lending have all been cleared. You have to pay for today's lunch."
"No problem. Later I will be the driver and take you to the restaurant I often go to. It just so happens that we can talk more about BYD's investment."
"Finally made a decision?"
"Munger has already inspected BYD."
Buffett smiled and said: "His evaluation is higher than yours. He said that in most of his life, he has never seen such a strange person who can solve technical problems like Edison and solve his needs like General CEO Welch." Whatever I do, I am very, very optimistic about BYD’s prospects. If I miss BYD’s strategic investment, it will be a shameful record for me.”
"With your and my support, BYD will definitely rise in the field of new energy vehicles in the future! Sweep! Dominate!"
Lu Fei raised his Coke and said, "Here, cheers!"
Buffett clinked glasses with him and said with a smile: "Lu, thank you for recommending such a high-quality project. Of course, there are also subprime mortgages. If you need any help in the future, you are welcome."
"Speaking of helping, I actually have one."
Lu Fei snapped his fingers, "I originally wanted to talk about it during lunch. I hope you can join forces with me to acquire MoneyGram."
“MoneyGram?”
Buffett nibbled on an almond.
Lu Fei nodded. MoneyGram is an international fast remittance company. It only handles global fast remittance services for individuals such as studying abroad and traveling abroad. It has more than 96,000 agents in Asia-Pacific, Europe, America, Latin America and other regions, ranking second in size. Western Union, the world's number one remittance company.
If Caifubao acquires MoneyGram, it will be able to completely open up global online cross-border payments and immediately surpass Paypal.
Feigou can also rely on Caifubao, which owns MoneyGram, to expand its cross-border e-commerce business to Europe and Asia, especially the European market.
Key banks such as China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of Communications rely on MoneyGram, which makes it easier to go overseas, although the help is very small.
"You want me to help you acquire MoneyGram's shares, and then transfer them all to you after the stock price stabilizes?"
Buffett immediately guessed the intention.
"Old man, I will never let you suffer."
Lu Fei said: "And the cost is not high. It is not expected to exceed 180 million U.S. dollars. If everything goes well, it will be around 140 million U.S. dollars."
"Why is it so low?"
"MoneyGram's losses on mortgage-backed securities investments are expected to exceed $1.6 billion. The first-quarter financial report has not yet been released, and the stock price has plummeted by 40%."
"For MoneyGram to recoup these losses, its shareholders would have to sell a majority of their shares in exchange for a cash infusion."
"If the stock price is too low, it may fall by 70% or 80%; if it is too high, it will directly become a penny stock. At that time, we will give MoneyGram an offer that cannot be refused." Lu Fei threw the gummy into his mouth and chewed it.
"That's okay, but why don't you..."
Buffett suddenly realized: "Is the Committee on Foreign Investment making things difficult for you again?"
"Isn't that right? Obviously so many companies are in danger, but I, a Chinese, am willing to save (save) (rob) American companies. What kind of spirit is this? This is the spirit of internationalism!"
Lu Fei was helpless: "It's a pity that my good intentions were in vain."
With a gleam of wisdom in his eyes, Buffett came up with an idea. He could go to Henry Paulson and it was time to redeem his points.
"That's why I'm here."
Lu Fei grinned. Henry Paulson has always advocated "promoting China and suppressing Europe", and his strategic stance favors China.
Otherwise, he would not be given a dark share.
I have been in the United States for so many years, spent so much money, and supported so many people, why don’t I just keep what I use today?
…………
More than ten minutes later, the office door was pushed open.
Henry Paulson walked straight in, without saying a single unnecessary polite word, he directly opened the skylight and spoke frankly——
Subprime mortgages and P2P have indeed shaken the entire financial system.
The only way to resolve the crisis now is to find ways to rescue Bear Stearns. After all, it is too big to fail. The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve are already looking for a "white knight" for Bear Stearns.
As he said that, he glanced at Lu Fei:
"Lu, I hope to stop with Bear Stearns."
"I never targeted Bear Stearns in the first place."
Lu Fei looked innocent and harmless, "The short-selling funds are all run by John. You also know how ruthless people from Bear Stearns are. They only recognize money and not people. But don't worry, I will definitely advise him to hurry up." Stop and spare my old club's life."
"Crooked!"
Henry Paulson saw through it without saying it. He looked at Lu Fei on the left and Buffett on the right. He said bluntly that the Ministry of Finance was organizing some companies to jointly acquire Bear Stearns, a financial giant in trouble, and hoped that the two major stock gods from the East and the West would take action.
"Can I also participate in the acquisition of Bear Stearns?"
Lu Fei laughed at himself: "I wanted to acquire a small company, but the bureaucrats at the Foreign Investment Committee made things difficult for me."
Buffett helped: "Yes, it will be difficult for Lu and I to save the dying MoneyGram, let alone Bear Stearns."
“MoneyGram, right?”
Henry Paulson is indeed a "China expert" and is well versed in the principle of "give before you take what you want." He wrote this name on a note, "When I finish dealing with Bear Stearns, I will talk to the committee." Let’s talk to the guys, can we continue now?”
"Wow, your tone sounds very similar to a phone call I received yesterday from a private investment firm, saying, 'The call was about Bear Stearns, can you continue?'"
Buffett politely refused: "I was thinking at the time, isn't this like a girl taking off half of her clothes and then asking me if I can continue? Even if I am a 90-year-old incompetent old man, I will let them continue, but it is a pity. , this transaction plan is far less attractive than the girl, let alone paying for it.”
"Pfft!"
Lu Fei couldn't help but laugh. He was indeed an old bastard pretending to be a gentleman, daring to make one after another flirtatious remarks in front of the Finance Minister.
If it were him, I really wouldn't be able to let go.
After all, he is not an orthodox Zhengxing Banner Tianlong.
Seeing the two laughing, Henry Paulson's face sank.
I promised to help you solve the MoneyGram acquisition case, and in exchange, you still haven’t agreed?
Buffett stopped smiling and explained the reason for not acquiring.
Bear Stearns is useless now. He can't run an investment bank, and he can't sell this ticket to Wall Street to Europe or China. It's simply tasteless and a pity to abandon.
But I gave him a sap and a sweet date——
We are willing to provide reinsurance for US$70 billion in municipal bonds in the United States to release trust in the US financial system to the outside world.
"$90 billion!"
Henry Paulson is like buying vegetables at a wet market and bargaining.
In the end, the two gave in to a further $80 billion.
Lu Fei noticed that Henry Paulson had set his sights on him, and he also brought out the conditions he had prepared long ago:
"Henry, you know me. Goldman Sachs and I are friends. Lehman and Bear Stearns are my enemies. How can I spend money to save my enemies? Otherwise..."
Immediately, a promise was made.
The subprime mortgage crisis is like a poisonous circle in the chicken market. As time goes by, the circle will only become smaller and smaller, and the toxicity will become more and more serious. Investment banks will die if they cannot avoid it, but the Trisolaris Fund can lend a hand to Goldman Sachs. Helping hand, as long as Goldman Sachs sends out a distress signal, it will be absolutely necessary!
"All right."
Henry Paulson also knew that there was no point in continuing the conversation.
Without Buffett taking the lead, it would have been impossible for Lu Fei to intervene in Bear Stearns. This Wall Street ticket would only be given to China, let alone Europe, to the great empires that are father and son to each other.
Although I couldn't get the answer I wanted, I was very satisfied.
Then he touched his chin and said, "Lu, then you can let John be more at ease while Bear Stearns is looking for a buyer. In addition, I hope you can ask for me..."
Lu Fei smiled coldly in his heart after hearing what he said.
Don’t you really want us to buy U.S. bonds?
He said: "Of course I am happy to be this messenger, but this matter can only be asked face to face when I return home. Henry, can you wait? I may have to stay in the United States for a long time."
"how long?"
"About two or three months."
"What! So long!"
"You can't blame me for this. If you want to blame it, blame Micron. They clearly sued Toshiba for infringement and insisted on involving my Yangtze Memory in the lawsuit for no reason." Lu Fei shook his head and laughed.
Buffett drank Coke and watched the show, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
Lu Fei complained bitterly, "No, the trial will be held in 6 days. I have consulted my legal team. This kind of patent infringement case will take at least half a year. I must stay and find an opportunity to talk to Micron privately." We are negotiating here, and we really can’t get away from it.”
"Micron, right?"
Henry Paulson wrote on the note, "While this is beyond the Treasury Department's purview, it is not impossible."
…………
"Huaxia Lu's prediction is successful, Bear Stearns moment is coming! Is the global economic crisis in "The Big Short" still far away?"
"Buffett announced his willingness to reinsure $80 billion in U.S. municipal bonds."
"Bear Stearns should not die! After the Federal Reserve agreed to 'guarantee' US$30 billion in loans to support JPMorgan Chase, JPMorgan Chase immediately announced that it would acquire the subprime mortgage crisis at a negotiated price of US$2 per share, with a total value of approximately US$236 million. Bear Stearns, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, stopped falling and closed at $4.81."
"..."
"Global memory chips encountered a cold wave at the beginning of the year, with prices falling by 70% year-on-year, the largest price drop in history. Industry insiders say that 2008 will be an important turning point for DDR3 memory."
Fox Business News was playing on the television.
"DDR3, haha, DDR3 has no improvement at all!"
Appleton, as CEO of Micron, is in a state of disarray.
"Yeah, we were too optimistic before."
Mark Decan didn't care about his status as the president, and kept swearing, "I originally thought that memory prices would definitely heat up in the second half of this year, but I didn't expect that the decline would be even more severe. The current market is so bad, even worse than in 2007." , banks are also unable to protect themselves, and it is not so easy to find money for financing.”
"Fortunately, we have reached an agreement with Representative Lee's Samsung and suspended the price war." Appleton sighed, "But it is not enough. The memory chip market seems to be shrinking more and more. We have to wait until next spring, or Either increase revenue or reduce expenditure."
"Layoffs?"
Mark Dekan reluctantly came up with the idea of saving money.
“No, there must be no layoffs, at least not now!”
Appleton said with a sullen face: "The stock market is in the doldrums. Now that layoffs are being issued, Micron's stock price is likely to plummet. Then we will be even more passive. It is better to transfer more testing production capacity to the factory in Chang'an. After all, China's low cost."
“Also, temporarily cut some R&D funding?”
"Put the development of 3D flash memory technology on hold for now."
"Intel attaches great importance to 3D flash memory. Can you agree?"
"I don't know what to do. We are the main force in research and development. Besides, 3D flash memory technology is too expensive. It is better to invest limited resources in 2D flash memory and make every effort to break through the 50nm process. The market for 3D flash memory will not be smaller than that of 3D flash memory."
Appleton pondered for a moment and made a decision.
Since 2006, the two companies have invested approximately US$1.2 billion each to establish the IM joint venture flash memory factory. The two giants have jointly developed flash memory chips. With the joint promotion of the two giants, IM has become the world's largest flash memory factory, and its production technology has been upgraded. By 72nm 2D flash memory, it is expected to become the world's first major manufacturer to mass-produce memory using the 50nm process this year.
However, Toshiba and Yangtze Memory stole the limelight, especially Yangtze Memory, and also grabbed business in China.
"This is the last resort."
Mark Deken's eyes flashed, "Before that, we must take advantage of this lawsuit with Yangtze River Storage to strive for an out-of-court settlement with them. As long as Lu agrees to increase Logic's order by another 20%, we will withdraw the lawsuit against Yangtze River Storage. I just sue Toshiba, and if everything goes well and we get a settlement of two to three billion US dollars from Toshiba, Micron should have no problem surviving this long winter."
"It's not enough, it's not enough. It's not just logical. It would be best to give us 10% of the orders from Yangtze River Storage."
Appleton showed a greedy and fierce smile
Just then, the landline phone rang.
The caller turned out to be Guo Xing. The two of them looked at each other and were filled with joy. They both thought they were calling on behalf of the Yangtze River Bank to "seek peace".
The result was beyond their expectations.
Guo Xing directly announced that starting from the second quarter, Logic's purchase orders for Micron would be cut by half, leaving no room for negotiation. The problem was the subprime mortgage crisis, and the sales of electronic products dropped sharply.
What's more, the semiconductor market demand is tightening, and the price of 2D memory has dropped again, such as 512Mb, which dropped to 0.31 US dollars...
The price offered by Elpida is more suitable than that of Micron!
"Guo, you can't be like this. You must have the spirit of contract. Mingming, hello, hello, Fake, he hung up the phone."
Mark Dekan was stunned, "How dare you hang up the phone."
"What! How dare he! How dare they!"
Appleton was furious.
Mark Deken snorted coldly, "It's probably in retaliation for us suing Yangtze River Storage for patent infringement. It may also be putting pressure on us and threatening us to withdraw the lawsuit. Otherwise..."
"They are crazy! How can they fight back!"
Appleton was like a typical Yingjiang. I was only allowed to suppress you, but you were not allowed to fight back against me. His whole face turned purple or even black with anger.
"Dingle bell, dingle bell~"
At this moment, the phone rang again.
Appleton gritted his teeth, "Is it still the call from Guo? Mark, tell him! Tell him! Falk, we will not give in, we will not surrender to you just for the sake of orders!"
"See you in court! See you in court!"
"Uh, it's a California court."
Mark Durken answered the phone, his expression changing again and again.
Seeing him stunned as if struck by lightning, Appleton had an ominous premonition in his heart, "Mark, what on earth did you say?"
"Hehe, hehe, today is not April Fool's Day, right?"
Mark Dekan couldn't help but smile bitterly: "The judge actually informed us that the lawsuit has been postponed, and suggested that we talk to Toshiba and Yangtze River Storage before the trial to strive for a pre-trial settlement."
"What? Say it again!"
Appleton couldn't believe his ears.
Thanks to HACCT and 20190609063542225 for the big 100 starting coins.
(End of chapter)
